Quilling Installation - Black Mirrors by Lauren Fensterstock

Way back in my very first month of blogging, I featured Maine resident, Lauren Fensterstock, whose intricate and dark quilling installation, Parterre, composed of black paper, charcoal dust, and Plexiglas, was on display at Bowdoin College in Maine.

Recently Lauren's Black Mirrors, which also features black paper and charcoal, was part of a dual artist exhibit titled A Third Nature, this time at Aucocisco Galleries in Portland, Maine.

Black Mirrors was inspired by Lauren's fascination with the framing tool called Claude Glass, a black convex mirror used by sketching artists in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to reflect picturesque landscapes. The mirror was popular because it reduced and defined an image of nature in such a way that it would appear perfect.

Lauren explains her materials... "Charcoal is known for its ability to absorb and purify the air around it. In 'A Third Nature' the charcoal appears to obscure and destroy an image of ornamentation [paper quilling], while acting as a grounded and healing physical presence."

Currently her work is on display in Texas through February 19 at the Austin Museum of Art in a site-specific installation entitled Two Takes on One Space. There she's used cut and curled black paper to create monochromatic landscapes... "two dramatic room-sized floor pieces that appear to contain the wildness of nature, one a tranquil reflecting pond, and another a teeming mass of vegetation." I would love to see this, as I would all of Lauren's work, and appreciate that she is elevating quilling within the art world.

See many more images of Lauren's work at her website.
All images of Black Mirrors via Aucocisco Galleries.

Ann, Lauren ceratinly elevates quilling into the artworld!!! Lauren's work is intriging and I also would love to be able to see this artwork up close, as monochromatic black doesn't really show up that well on my monitor. What great concepts and ideas!!! Lauren's work are an inspiration!!Licia Politis